Americans are right to be dismayed with U.S. energy policy. For forty years, presidents of both parties have backed a series of fanciful “breakthrough technologies.” From synfuels to Solyndra, these schemes have turned out to be costly disappointments and the source of a recurring political drama. After failures become clear, Congress sometimes conducts oversight hearings. But it welcomes each new scheme as a pretext for pork barrel politics. Neither the executive nor the legislature ever learns from past failures.

President Obama has added a new element to the story line. He often worries aloud that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) might be outpacing the United States in what he portrays as a race to deploy “green energy.” The public, by a large margin, 68 to 26 percent, supports subsidies to alternative energy. Even 53 percent of Republicans back subsidies, although this number has fallen during the Obama administration. Much of the public also seems to share a fear of China’s state-led economy. Today, 43 percent of Americans name China as the world’s leading economic power, versus 38 percent who name the United States.